More GOP defections

A granddaughter of a conservative Republican icon, the late Arizona Sen. Barry Goldwater, CC Goldwater, announced that she would not be voting for her state’s senator, John McCain, on Nov. 4.

Goldwater says she and her sibling — and a few cousins — are casting their lot with Democrat Barack Obama in the 2008 U.S. presidential election. And Goldwater says it’s a no-brainer.

“We believe strongly in what our grandfather stood for: honesty, integrity, and personal freedom, free from political maneuvering and fear tactics,” Goldwater said in a blog on The Huffington Post.

“Nothing about McCain, except for maybe a uniform, compares to the same ideology of what Goldwater stood for as a politician,” the granddaughter wrote.

“Nothing about the Republican ticket offers the hope America needs to regain it’s standing in the world. That’s why we’re going to support Barack Obama,” she said.

Former White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan, who wrote a book critical of President George W. Bush and the Iraq war, told CNN that he is voting for Obama.

“From the very beginning, I have said I am going to support the candidate that has the best chance for changing the way Washington works and getting things done and I will be voting for Barack Obama and clapping,” the one-time Bush insider said in a taped interview airing on Saturday.

In Minnesota, former Republican Gov. Arne Carlson endorsed the Democratic senator from Illinois.

“I consider myself a Republican maverick,” Carlson said in explaining his endorsement.

The Minneapolis Star-Tribune said Carlson also criticized Republicans for waging “a mean-spirited campaign” that has “been going down all these side roads.”

The highest-profile Republican to endorse Obama, retired Gen. Colin Powell, was a former secretary of state in the Bush administration.

Oh, yeah. Since CC Goldwater is related to Barry Goldwater you see fit to mislead people into believing she shares his political beliefs. A cursory search on the web finds that she’s no conservative, even with the name. You mention that she made her supposedly earth shattering announcement on Huffington Post without pointing out that it’s a clearing house for liberal democrat opinion. Imagine that.

Americans, remember! We need a huge turnout and a landslide victory, because as we can see already today, the Republicans are again trying to steal this election at the polling stations, just like in 2000 & 2004!

Americans who cherish their country, who want us, and our children, to have a bright future, must now vote with strength and courage, elect Obama/Biden in overwhelming numbers, and return honesty, decency, and integrity to our American politics!

Starting Nov. 5th, we’ll begin the hard work of repairing the immense damage these Republican Party thieves and scoundrels have done to our economy, our country, & our people.

The only “Bots” we have observed over the past several months in the postings regarding the election are the low IQ posts by the “Earl” and “Earlene” types backing the sleazy old man and the simpleton woman from Alaska ….. Nuff Said!

It does not matter if any of the Goldwaters are liberal. They are prominent Arizonians who would not have invoked Rep. Sen. Barry Goldwater’s name to denounce McCain unless they had very good reasons to do so. Indeed, that countless prominent Republicans, Conservatives and now Arizonians have made a difficult, well-informed choice to support Obama/Biden, anyone & everyone still supporting McCain/Palin has a grave responsibility to take a cold hard look at the facts and be prudent about what is at stake. This is no ordinary election. It is one thing to disagree with or prefer a particular candidate, however, willful ignorance and blind loyalty puts nation at grave risk. The USA must move past the rampant gullibility, credulity & wishful thinking we have been exhibiting of late and shun those who prey on such. If we do not, it is to our own peril. Well-informed Republicans and Conservatives know this – it is why they have publicly denounced the McCain campaign’s tactics and can no longer in good conscience support his candidacy.

It’s hard to think of a worst scenario for any incoming president to step into than the one that currently exists… Two wars with really no end in sight the Bail out debacle on Wall Street not to mention the Real Estate and Credit Crunch on Main Street and waiting in the wings… A long and painfull recession readdy to dance on the stage… Americans have been asleep at the wheel for so long in beliveIng and trusting in scheming politicians and their cronies that we sadly have forgotten to take action to change things & repair the damage..Bottom line is we have helped create this perfect storm we now face…I guess we just don’t get it… This is what happens when you allow the wolves to guard the hen house… And folks If you voted for Bush in the last two elections..Than blame your self…! Shame Shame Shame You should have known better…Now can any one really dig us out of this mess…? I only hope & pray Americans will find it in their heads & hearts to do the right thing to bring about a positive change and vote for Barack Obama… lets face it folks…like him ,love him or hate him, this is crunch time for all of us & Senator Obama stands to be our best and only hope….JT

I wonder what Rush Limbaugh has to say now. Surely for McClellan and for the Goldwaters they are not voting just because he is Black. I also want to speak to that person who is calling Obama a socialist. Why is socialism accepted by you when it comes to nationalizing the banking system, and bailing out mortgage firms who lacked sound judgement when making loans.

If it were only that facile, joeboy. Bush Jr completed the Reagan deregulation that resulted in ‘every American should own a home’ as policy (2002) that gave free range to the mortgage scam artists working the Bush no-deposit mortgage policy – the resulting worthless sub-prime paper was peddled world wide by the big 5 (no more) Wall Street Investment bankers who used the ‘paper’ in their inter bank credit swaps as collateral (sic). Bush Jr & buds did-in the world financial markets, period!

I have to wonder why it is that the Republican sentiment regarding Barack Obama is so hateful. The majority of the people I have personally encountered who plan on voting for McCain/Palin use the standard “no experience” “Marxist/Socialist” “pals around with terrorist” diatribe that I have to wonder whether they can think without the Rove-ish talking points crammed down their throats. As for the people who I have encountered who plan on voting for Obama, many also fall into the Democratic version of spin, but most just want something different and don’t feel that they will have that with McCain. I for one voted for McCain in the 2000 and 2004 primaries, but recently I have begun to see him as yet another player in the party political scene. Particularly with the choice of Palin who is every bit as inexperienced as Sen. Obama, regardless of her tenure as Mayor of Wasilla and Governor of Alaska. I don’t hate her, and I don’t hate Sen. McCain, but it seems that just about everyone who is rabidly supporting the McCain/Palin ticket hates Sen. Obama (and I know that I am exaggerating). As for the Ayers issue – he is an admitted terrorist, he did not repent for his stance, and he should still be held accountable for his actions. That being said, I don’t see how his association with Sen. Obama is that much of an issue today – apparently the University of Illinois doesn’t think it was sufficient to prevent him from teaching education there. The period during which the Weather Underground operated was a violently turbulent time on both sides of the political fence (and I am not excusing his or anyone else’s actions). Personally, I want to hear what will be done to help our country recover from the past several years of misleading at the hands of Bush/Cheney and not what happened thirty-eight years ago.

Personally, I am sick of the “marxist” and “maverick” comments – enough already. McCain is as much a maverick as Obama is a marxist. This blind allegiance has got to stop – take a good look at who you are voting for people (on both sides) and stop voting based on who your mommy and daddy voted for, or who your husband votes for, or who your neighbors vote for. Make a stand, but know your reasons, and make them worthwhile. And respect the opinions of others. Having the right to choose is what this country is all about.

I, for one, am a registered republican in South Carolina who will be voting for Barack Obama. We desperately need someone who can lead us well both domestically and on the international stage. It hasn’t been an easy decision, but I feel that Sen. Obama is the best man for this challenge.

I was voting for McCain until he picked Palin. She’s everything I detest about the far right. We need someone somewhere in the middle right now to unite this country and re-earn the respect of the world.

MOST OF THE DEFECTIONS ARE NOT REALLY TRUE REPUBLICANS. THEY PROTECT THEIR OWN INTEREST FIRST RATHER THAN TO THEIR PATRIOTISM TO THEIR COUNTRY AND PARTY. LIKEWISE, SOME OF THE REPUBLICAN ADVISERS ARE SAYING THAT SARAH PALIN IS THE MAIN PROBLEM TO THE TICKET. IF THIS IS SO, WHY THIS POOR SARAH PALIN DREWS MORE CROWD THAN MCCAIN. PERHAPS THOSE WHO ARE POINTING FINGERS ARE DOUBLE AGENTS OF THE DEMOCRATS, AND THEY JUST WANT TO TOTALLY TEAR DOWN THE IMAGE OF THIS LADY. THE REAL REASON WHY MCCAIN IS LOSING IS BECAUSE HE IS IDENTIFIED WITH PRESIDENT BUSH PERIOD PLUS THE ECONOMIC RECESSION. MCCAIN SHOWED WEAKNESS IN LEADERSHIP DURING THE FIRST TWO DEBATES WHEN OBAMA CONTINUES TO ATTACK HIM AS SAME AS BUSH. IF SARAH PALIN WAS THE ONE WHO IS TO DEBATE WITH OBAMA, THE RESULTS OF THE POLLS NOW WOULD HAVE BEEN IN FAVOR OF THE REPUBLICAN. I WAS IN VIRGINIA DURING HER CAMPAIGN TRAIL AND A LOT OF REPUBLICANS AND INDEPENDENT VOTERS HAVE WISHED THAT SARAH WAS ON THE TOP OF THE TICKET. A LOT OF PEOPLE IN THE CROWD ARE SAYING THAT SARAH PALIN IS MORE PRESIDENTIABLE THAN MCCAIN AND SHE HAS STRONGER PERSONALITY. TO THOSE PUNDITS WHO DOES NOT KNOW ABOUT HUMAN BEHAVIOR AND PSYCHOLOGY, STRONG PERSONALITY IS ONE OF THE BIGGEST FACTOR IN LEADERSHIP. EVEB THOUGH YOU ARE A HARVARD GRAD BUT IF YOUR PERSONALITY IS VERY WEEK, YOU CANNOT REACH THE HIGHEST POSITION IN A CORPORATE LADDER. THIS IS A REALITY. OBAMA IS A HARVARD GRAD PLUS HE HAS STRONG PERSONALITY AND A GOOD SPEAKER, AND THESE ARE THE REASONS HE IS GOING TO WIN THIS ELECTION. ANYWAY, AS AN INDEPENDENT VOTER AND EVEN I AM IMPRESSED WITH OBAMA, I WILL STILL VOTE FOR THE REPUBLICAN BECAUSE OF SARAH PALIN AND MY CONVICTIONS TO GOD’S COMMANDMENTS: MARRIAGE IS FOR BETWEEN A MAN AND A WOAMN ONLY.

What’s sad is watching the angry, scared sheep line up behind McCain/Palin. Through the early and mid parts of the campaign McCain tried to persuade people to vote for him and against Obama by drawing distinctions in foreign and domestic policy, social issues etc. But they were losing….so what next? Let’s trot out inflammatory stories about Obama “paling around with domestic terrorists” and calling him a “socialist” and making accusations in the 12th hour about ACORN. It’s not surprising that they changed their approach because they were losing in the polls and they hired despicable political operatives who used effective smear campaigns against Kerry and also McCain himself in past elections. But what IS surprising is that people on the right and some independents swallow this garbage hook, line and sinker…like it’s “breaking news.” Here’s the real breaking news. You ticket is getting it’s clock cleaned, they are desperate in the waning hours of the campaign and they aren’t above any attacks to try to turn it around. Another news flash….the choice of Palin may have energized the right wing Christian base but it has turned off most moderates, independents, and any folks with at least half a brain.

“…”The NDP, the Bloc Québécois and the Liberals (in their leftist Dionista variant, at least) are all pro-Kyoto [Protocol], down-the-line socially liberal, anti-American, weak on crime, culturally nationalistic, and fiscally redistributionist,” opined Jonathan Kay in a post-election blog entry for the conservative National Post.

“Scary stuff,” wrote Kay. “And here’s the scariest part: About two-thirds of Canadians voted for this vision on Tuesday.”

Canada enjoys a standard of living equal to the US, has National Health care for all, excellent social security/pension plans and minimal gun crime. Call it socialism/liberalism, it works very well indeed! Conservatism (extreemism) is anathema to the good life.

Raymond articulates the religious conviction that the bible should be the manual for American statute. Incredible to me how religion, an industry with huge revenues and the lowest cost of sale on the planet (the book), is even a factor in enlightened secular society. Religion is all about ‘control’ – Islam’s Sharia Law holds that a woman has half the value of a man – Raymond affirms homophobia as a voting issue, others deny a woman’s right to privacy (a woman’s privacy upheld by Justice Roberts at hearings) as she exercises her Roe v. Wade constitutional right to an abortion. Republicans will eventually turn the clock back to the Middle Ages, identical to Sharia: stoning, cutting off of hands, death for apostasy, homophobia and the complete subservience of women to men, because ‘the book’ demands this! Sarah Palin will not fare well in ‘a biblical era America.’

Today comedian (sic) Limbaugh edits a 7 year old Obama quote on the Constitution but omits Obama’s ‘slavery’ reference for effect – why would anyone be surprised at anything spouted by redneck miscreant Rush?

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Night desk reporter in the Washington Bureau. Holds a Masters degree in Interactive Journalism and currently working on merging new media skills with old media experience. Prior to joining Reuters, worked in broadcasting at two other international wire services (which I won't name here). A perpetual piano student, and not very good, which is perfect for my secret ambition -- lounge piano player.